Sophie Sonnenfeld photo
On National Oyster Day, Fair Haven celebrated its oyster farming history while looking forward to future steps.
Mayor Justin Elicker and Fair Haven Heights Alder Rosa Santana visited Copps Island Oysters on the banks of the Quinnipiac River Thursday afternoon to highlight the historical significance of oyster farming in New Haven. Copps Island Oysters Founder Norm Bloom, and his son, Jimmy Bloom who now owns the farm walked the group through their docks, boats, shell pile, and renderings of a planned expansion.
The Blooms farm 14,000 acres along the Connecticut coast from Greenwich to Stonington. Norm Bloom said they have customers from across Connecticut to Texas, Florida, and the West Coast. Along with oysters, Copps Island Oysters markets clams and lobsters.
Norm Bloom estimated that 80 percent of their market comes from farming in the New Haven Harbor. While they are headquartered in Norwalk, they use their New Haven area to farm, produce oysters, and store shells. “Everything happens here,” Bloom said.
Norm and Jimmy Bloom.
The Bloom family has worked in oyster farming since the 1940s. Norm Bloom opened Copps Island Oysters in 1994.
In total, they manage between 25 and 30 boats and employ nearly 60 people.
Fair Haven was home to booming oyster farming throughout the 1700 and 1800s.
“It’s great to see a traditional business like oystering thriving here,” said New Haven Deputy Economic Development Administrator Carlos Eyzaguirre.
Copps Island Oysters in Fair Haven.
At the celebration, the Blooms detailed plans for renovating their historic buildings, and creating a new hatchery to help them “get to the 21st century.”
In New Haven, they save the oyster shells in large piles, wait for spawning time in July, and then put the piles back in the water and wait to harvest.
With the new hatchery, Norm Bloom said, they plan to combine new hatchery methods to help control growing conditions with their traditional oystering where they seed in the sound and grow oysters naturally.
Farm stand at Copps Island Oysters.
The hatchery will give them a more sustainable, reliable seed source, Jimmy Bloom said. In a hurricane they lost 50 percent of their crop in one day. “It’s hard to recover from those kinds of circumstances.”
Jimmy Bloom said 90 percent of their market relies on restaurants: “People are intimidated by shucking or it’s too much work for them, so there’s not a big culture to buy oysters in the grocery store, bring them home and shuck them themselves.”
The Blooms plan to include a new processing facility on the north end of the property, where they will prepare retail packages to sell at grocery chains with pre-shucked oysters and flavors.
Their plans for renovation and the new facilities are currently in the permitting phase. Read more here and here about the plans and community reactions to reflecting the neighborhood’s design, noise concerns, and blocked views.
They also hold a farm stand each Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Copps Island New Haven site. To place larger orders in advance, customers can call 415 – 202-6246.
Patty King: “It’s always fresh!”
Patty King, who started to run the farm stand when Covid-19 hit, said it has been successful.
They sell their own fresh oysters, clams, and lobsters and occasionally have scallops and flounder they buy. “It’s always fresh!” King said.
Rosa Santana: “I want to appreciate what they have done to mitigate the odor, they’ve done a phenomenal job.”
Santana said she is grateful for Copps Island Oysters’ dedication and adherence to community input.
Her mother lives down the street from Copps Island Oysters and said she used to smell the shell pile from her house. “I want to appreciate what they have done to mitigate the odor, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” Santana said.
To address the smell problem, the Blooms said, they used an environmentally friendly agent to mix with water and spray on the pile.
Elicker spoke about his interactions with Copps Island Oysters when he was executive director of the New Haven Land Trust. Elicker said he’s been on the oyster farming boats with public school kids and community members and shucking oysters at Land Trust fundraisers. “Consistently you’ve shown and firsthand I’ve witnessed your care for the surrounding neighborhood,” Elicker said.
He added that the oyster farm not only supports the community by providing jobs and engaging the community in their work, but also a “positive environmental impact.”
Elicker also noted the benefits of oysters to the environment as they are “filter feeders.” According to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, oysters can filter 100 gallons of seawater each day.